The Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang has opened up about paying homage to Andrew Lincoln’s character Rick Grimes before his exit.
It was recently confirmed that Andrew Lincoln will be leaving the show before the end of season 9. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Kang has spoken out about how Rick Grimes’ exit will be treated.
“The goal this season was just to pay homage to that character — the character that brought us into the show. Rick Grimes has been somebody that people have loved watching, just loved this character’s journey.”
“He is this man who was looking for his family, and found them, and lost many of them, but has fought on and on. And I think that’s meant a lot to people. And we just really wanted to be respectful of that character and send him off in a great way. So that was the charge for us this season.”
She also credited Lincoln for his attitude on set. She said: “He has so empowered the other actors to carry on the positive legacy that he’s had on the set all these years. And they really have absolutely stepped up. So we have all these wonderful actors that are on our show that are gonna be just as positive, and wonderful, and warm as he was. And that’s really the lasting legacy that Andy leaves us as a human being on our set.”
Season 9 of The Walking Dead will premier October 8 on ABC later this year.
